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The Guinness Partnership Limited (202335030)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202335030

The Guinness Partnership Limited

24 September 2025

 

Our approach

The Housing Ombudsman’s approach to investigating and determining complaints is to decide what is fair in all the circumstances of the case. This is set out in the Housing Act 1996 and the Housing Ombudsman Scheme (the Scheme). The Ombudsman considers the evidence and looks to see if there has been any ‘maladministration’, for example whether the landlord has failed to keep to the law, followed proper procedure, followed good practice or behaved in a reasonable and competent manner.

Both the resident and the landlord have submitted information to the Ombudsman and this has been carefully considered. Their accounts of what has happened are summarised below. This report is not an exhaustive description of all the events that have occurred in relation to this case, but an outline of the key issues as a background to the investigation’s findings.

The complaint

  1. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of roof repairs.
  2. The Ombudsman has also considered the landlord’s complaint handling.

Background

  1. The resident has been a secure tenant of a 3-bedroom house since 1977. The landlord’s records show the resident is a pensioner. The resident used a representative during her complaint.
  2. The resident reported a leak from her roof to the landlord on 19 October 2023. The landlord sent its contractor to inspect the roof on 26 October 2023.
  3. On 9 November 2023 the resident complained to the landlord as the roof had not been repaired.
  4. The landlord sent its stage 1 complaint response to the resident on 23 November 2023. It did not uphold her complaint, but it offered the resident £100 food vouchers as she told she was having to spend more on her energy bills due to the damaged roof.
  5. The resident escalated her complaint with the landlord on 3 December 2023 as the roof had not been repaired. The landlord acknowledged the complaint the following day.
  6. On 18 January 2024 the landlord sent its stage 2 complaint response to the resident. It apologised and offered £120 compensation for the delay in carrying out the repairs to the roof.
  7. The resident contacted us on 20 February 2024 and said she was not satisfied with the landlord’s response to her complaint.

Assessment and findings

The landlord’s handling of roof repairs

  1. On 19 October 2023 the resident reported a leak from her roof. The landlord’s contractor inspected the roof on 26 October 2023. They told the landlord scaffolding was to be erected to carry out the repairs.
  2. The landlord’s repairs policy states it is responsible for repairing a leaking roof. The landlord considers a leaking roof to be a routine repair, and it aims to fix the issue within 20 working days. The landlord’s contractor attended the property to inspect the roof within its repairs policy timescale, but no scaffolding was arranged to carry out the repairs within the timescales set by the policy.
  3. The resident contacted the landlord for an update on the repair on 30 October and 6 November 2023. She said she was a pensioner and had to spend more on heating because of the damaged roof. The landlord provided the resident with £100 food vouchers on 6 November 2023 because her energy bills had increased. The voucher payment made to the resident was in line with the landlord’s compensation policy, which says it can make a discretionary goodwill gesture to recognise a shortcoming. The landlord did not tell the resident when the roof would be repaired.
  4. On 9 November 2023 the resident complained to the landlord. She said the landlord had not given any update in when the roof would be repaired.
  5. The landlord recorded on 15 November 2023 its roofing contractor had not arranged to carry out the repairs. It referred the works to a different contractor and apologised to the resident for the delay when it called her on 20 November 2023.
  6. On 23 November 2023 the landlord sent its response to the resident at stage 1 of its complaints process. The landlord said its contractor attended the property on 26 October 2023, but they could not carry out the repair within a reasonable timeframe. It said an alternative contractor would attend the property on 24 November 2023 to repair the roof. The landlord apologised for the distress caused to the resident by roof leak, and it said it had provided food vouchers to help towards costs incurred because of the outstanding repair.
  7. The landlord’s records show its contractor erected scaffolding at the resident’s property on 24 November 2023. However, no repairs were carried out as the contractor said the roof needed to be inspected for asbestos first. The landlord spoke to the resident’s representative the same day and he questioned when the asbestos inspection and the roof repair would take place. He also said the scaffolding was affecting the resident’s satellite TV signal. On 1 December 2023 the representative asked the landlord when the scaffolding was to be checked as he did not believe it was safe.
  8. The resident escalated her complaint with the landlord on 3 December 2023. She said the roof had not been repaired and the scaffolding was dangerous as it meant she could not fully open her back door or bedroom window.
  9. The landlord’s contractor was due to inspect the roof for asbestos on 11 December 2023, but they did not attend as scheduled. The asbestos inspection took place on 13 December 2023 instead. The contractor sent its survey report to the landlord on 8 January 2024, which said there was no asbestos in the roof. The resident’s representative told us he requested a copy of the asbestos report from the landlord but has not received this. The evidence provided by the landlord does not make reference to the resident or her representative requesting a copy of the asbestos report.
  10. The resident called the landlord for an update on the roof repair on 9 January 2024, but it did not return her call.
  11. The landlord’s records show its contractor checked the scaffolding at the resident’s property on 17 January 2024, and they said it was compliant with scaffolding regulations. Despite concerns being raised 2 months earlier, and Health and Safety regulations stating that scaffolding should be checked for safety at least every 7 days, this is the only record the landlord has provided regarding the scaffolding being inspected.
  12. On 18 January 2024 the landlord sent its stage 2 complaint response to the resident. It said there had been delays in carrying out repairs due to its contractor not arranging the required works and the asbestos inspection. The landlord apologised the scaffolding at the property was causing inconvenience and said its contractor had been as careful as possible with its positioning. The landlord said the scaffolding was necessary to allow the required repairs to the roof, but it said it would consider reimbursing her for the loss of satellite TV signal if she provided her bills. The landlord said it expected the roof repairs to be completed by 22 January 2024.
  13. The landlord apologised to the resident for the delays in repairing the roof and offered £120 compensation:
    1. £100 for the delay in carrying out the roof repair.
    2. £10 for the missed asbestos inspection appointment on 11 December 2023.
    3. £10 for not returning her call on 9 January 2024
  14. The landlord’s complaint response accepted there had been delays in repairing the roof and it offered compensation to the resident for this. However, whilst the landlord said the scaffolding was necessary to carry out repairs to the roof, it did not address the resident’s safety concerns nor did it provide details of when it has been checked.
  15. On 20 January 2024 the landlord’s contractor repaired the roof. The scaffolding was removed on 26 January 2024. The roof repairs were not carried out within the timescale prescribed in the landlord’s repairs policy.
  16. The resident sent her satellite TV bills for the previous 2 months to the landlord on 29 January 2024. The landlord replied to the resident on 29 February 2024 and said it would refund £64 for her satellite TV costs.
  17. We contacted the landlord on 17 April 2024 and confirmed the resident had complained to us about its handling of her complaint. The landlord wrote to the resident on 7 May 2024 and said it had reviewed her complaint again. The landlord said it recognised it had not provided her with updates during the roof repair, and it failed to tell her she could request a reimbursement of her increased energy costs while the repair was outstanding.
  18. The landlord apologised to the resident and offered a further £300 compensation for its poor communication and the impact of the delayed roof repairs. The landlord has told us the resident has not provided any evidence of her energy bills for it to consider reimbursing her.
  19. The evidence shows the landlord failed to manage the resident’s reports of a roof leak in line with the timescale set out in its repairs policy. Its communication with an elderly resident was poor during the repair period and it failed to address her concerns about the safety of the scaffolding erected at the property.
  20. When a failure is identified, as in this case, our role is to consider whether the redress offered by the landlord put things right and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances. In considering this, we take into account whether the landlord’s offer of redress was in line with the Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles: Be Fair, Put Things Right, and Learn from Outcomes, as well as our own guidance on remedies.
  21. The landlord’s offers of redress made during its complaints process were not proportionate to the levels of its failings in order to compensate the resident appropriately for the repair delays and the distress and inconvenience this caused her. However, following the resident’s complaint to us, the landlord offered an additional £300 compensation, as well as reimbursing her satellite TV bills and offering to consider reimbursing her energy bills.
  22. We encourage landlords to take resolution focussed action, irrespective of the stage at which a case is at. However, the main focus for a landlord should always be to ensure that a case in dispute progresses to a fair resolution during its internal complaints process.
  23. It was not until the resident referred her complaint to us that the landlord conducted a further review of the case and increased its offer of compensation. Although this did indicate a willingness to learn, in line with the Dispute Resolution Principles, appropriate redress is something which should have been considered as part of the internal complaint’s procedure. A referral to us should not be seen as another opportunity for the landlord to consider its handling of the complaint.
  24. When considering our guidance on remedies, the landlord’s overall compensation offers of £420, £100 food vouchers and the reimbursement of satellite TV costs and energy bills is proportionate to the level of its failings and is fair. These offers acknowledged there was a failure which adversely affected the resident. In making the offers the landlord accepted its failings, and the compensation offered was proportionate to those failings. This leads to a determination of reasonable redress, in that the landlord has made an offer which satisfactorily resolves the complaint. The failure to make this offer as part of its complaints process is addressed below.

Complaint handling

  1. In 2023 the landlord’s complaints policy stated it would acknowledge complaints within 2 working days. It aimed to respond to stage 1 complaints within 10 working days of acknowledging them and stage 2 complaints within 20 working days. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code).
  2. The resident complained to the landlord on 9 November 2023. The landlord did not acknowledge this complaint. However, this was not detrimental to the resident as the landlord sent its stage 1 complaint response to her on 23 November 2023, which was within its complaint policy timescale by which a response could be expected.
  3. The resident escalated her complaint with the landlord on 3 December 2023. The landlord acknowledged the complaint the following day.
  4. The landlord replied to the resident’s stage 2 complaint on 18 January 2024. This was not within its complaint policy timescale, yet the landlord did not offer any redress for its delayed response.
  5. Following the resident’s complaint to us, the landlord reviewed its handling of the complaint. On 7 May 2024 it offered the resident £25 compensation for its delayed stage 2 complaint response.
  6. The landlord’s offer of £25 compensation and its acknowledgement of the delay at stage 2 aligns to an award of redress we would typically arrive at in similar circumstances and when using our remedies guidance. However, the landlord’s failure to resolve the issues via the complaint procedure meant the resident was put through more time and trouble contacting us about the matters she raised.
  7. Although it is positive the landlord offered reasonable compensation to the resident, this was not until after the stage 2 response and was only when she took the time and trouble to complain to us. Therefore, the landlord failed to effectively put things right during its internal complaints process.
  8. The landlord did not investigate the resident’s concerns appropriately through its complaints process. If it had, it could have reasonably avoided the impact, and time and trouble caused to the resident. As such, the landlord did not act in line with our dispute resolution principles, and this leads to determination of service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling. An order for an additional £50 compensation to reflect the distress caused by the delay in receiving resolution to the complaint is made below.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53.b of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was reasonable redress by the landlord in its handling of roof repairs.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure by the landlord in its complaint handling.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report the landlord will:
    1. Provide the resident with a written apology for the identified failings in this report.
    2. Pay £75 compensation to the resident for the distress and inconvenience caused by the landlord’s complaint handling failures. The landlord can deduct from this total the £25 already offered to the resident if already paid. The balance should be paid directly to the resident and not offset against any rent or service charge account.
  2. The landlord will provide evidence of compliance of the above orders and its response to the recommendations below within 4 weeks of the date of this report.

Recommendations

  1. If not made already, the landlord should re-offer and pay the compensation offer of £420, £100 food vouchers and £64 satellite TV costs to the resident.
  2. The landlord should engage again with the resident with a view to reimbursing the resident’s energy costs, as per its offer of 7 May 2024.
  3. The landlord should provide the resident with a copy of the asbestos survey report from 13 December 2023.